Czechia stuns Canada with big win in world juniors opener

This is why they play the games!

A heavily favoured Canadian side was taken down 5-2 by Czechia during the opening game of the 2023 World Junior Championship on Monday.

Canada outshot Czechia 38-26, but it was all for naught. Stanislav Svozil led the way for Czechia with a goal and an assist, and though Connor Bedard looked every bit worthy of the first overall pick next summer, it wasn’t enough.

Here are three takeaways and one key criticism from Czechia’s stunning victory.

Connor Bedard’s otherworldly shot on full display

Connor Bedard is the best player to enter the draft since Auston Matthews, and much like the Maple Leafs superstar, the 17-year-old possesses an extraordinary release that belies his undersized stature. Bedard is the runaway favourite to go first overall in a loaded draft class, and though he’s outstanding at weaving in and out of traffic, his release and accuracy are his calling cards.

Bedard has unbelievable bend and flexibility in his shot release. David Foster Wallace once described Roger Federer’s forehand as a great, liquid whip, and though we don’t want to add to the preposterous hype surrounding the Vancouver teenager, this certainly applies here. There is a fluidity to Bedard’s shot that stands out, and makes him the easiest can’t-miss prospect since Matthews.

Bedard is going to dominate this tournament as an underage player. This was to be expected. And we’ll try to highlight other elements of his game in this blog. Trailing 3-1, Canada needed some offensive injection and Bedard showed why he is the marquee player in this draft class and this tournament, by some distance.

Benjamin Gaudreau’s performance opens up the goaltending competition

Your annual reminder — and one that journalists could use, too — that the players in this tournament are just kids. Benjamin Gaudreau will almost certainly have better nights ahead in his young career. It would be tough to write about this game without mentioning Gaudreau’s rough evening, however.

In fairness to Gaudreau, there were plenty of tepid defensive efforts from Canadian blueliners tracking back. If the hallmark of a quality goaltender is to give his team a chance, Gaudreau absolutely did not. And when Jaroslav Chmelar beat Gaudreau to give Czechia a 5-2 lead, Gaudreau’s night was done, replaced by Thomas Milic.

It’s worth mentioning that Czechia’s Tomas Suchanek entered the tournament as a popular pick to win Best Goaltender and the undrafted prospect should be getting on NHL radars. Maybe he plays much better for country than for club, but once again, Suchanek outdueled his competition and was instrumental in the 5-2 victory.

There will be variable change during a short tournament and you just need your goalie to ride a hot streak in order to get to the podium. Gaudreau was the sure-fire starter for Canada entering the tournament. Milic appeared to settle things down for Canada after a brutal second frame, and that may be enough to catapult him into the No. 1 role, at least for now.

Stanislav Svozil deserves all 15 minutes of fame and more

One of the best parts of a condensed tournament is that it can create heroes out of relative unknowns. Czechia’s Stanislav Svozil and Jaroslav Chlemer deserve all the recognition they'll get for their standout performances on Monday night.

Svozil was an all-around menace. He set up Czechia’s opening goal with a beautiful lateral feed where David Spacek tapped it home for the equalizer. Svozil also got on the board for what stood as the game’s eventual winner, looking like his club teammate Connor Bedard for a second with a picture-perfect wrister. Svozil was the best player for Czechia, although goaltender Tomas Suchanek has an argument, and he wasn’t done after notching two points.

Svozil crushed Canada’s Adam Fantilli with a perfectly timed hip-check that sent the presumptive top-three pick sprawling. And we’ll bet that he’s probably going the topic of several Google searches tonight.

Svozil was a third-round pick of the Blue Jackets in 2021, so yes, he didn’t appear out of thin air. But for one night at least, Svozil elevated his game and deserves to be lionized among the Czechia fans, while earning an early look at the all-tournament team.

TSN attempts to launder the broken reputation of Hockey Canada

The partnership between Hockey Canada and TSN is inextricable. Hockey Canada relies on TSN’s round-the-clock coverage to accelerate its revenue goals, especially during a year where it is hosting the tournament. And with most of the star-studded prospects taking part in this summer’s rendition, this year feels like nothing more than an avenue for the broken governing body to make up lost income.

Hockey Canada has been revealed to be a national disgrace throughout the calendar 2022 year, after TSN’s Rick Westhead reported that concurrent sexual assault scandals allegedly occurred, involving players from the 2003 and 2018 teams. The board of directors — including the disgraced CEO Scott Smith — have been ousted, but Hockey Canada has yet to show actual remorse. And it was once again evident on Monday night, with TSN laundering Hockey Canada’s attempts at rehabilitating its image.

TSN aired a commercial during the first intermission advertising and celebrating the Hockey Canada Foundation Assist Fund, asking its viewers to donate their hard-earned money to a governing body that appears broken beyond reproach. And if the assist fund doesn’t trigger any alarm bells, it ought to.

Robyn Doolittle and Rachel Brady of The Globe and Mail reported on Dec. 23 that a senior Nike Canada executive was seen buying rounds of drinks before an alleged group assault occurred at a hotel in London, Ontario in June 2018. TSN’s Rick Westhead previously reported that Hockey Canada settled a multimillion dollar lawsuit in connection with the alleged assault. Former Supreme Court Justice Thomas Cromwell wrote in his October report that the National Equity Fund — which was partly funded by player registration fees across Canada — was approved by Hockey Canada’s board of directors to pay out $17 million to settle and effectively cover up sexual assault allegations.

Cromwell testified in December before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, and Hockey Canada still remains under questioning from the federal government, to say nothing of the public writ-large.

Westhead is one of the best sports reporters in Canada. But the rest of his network seems to have abdicated the lessons learned by the Canadian public this year, pretending as if Hockey Canada is still an agent of good, and a trusted public agency that can safely administer and overlook minor and junior hockey.

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